Essentials for Project-Based Learning

Some projects border on busywork. Others involve meaningful inquiry that engages students minds.
John Larmer John R. Mergendoller, PhD. Buck Institute for Education
s Mrs. McIntyre walked around the high school science classroom, she plopped a packet of papers on each students desk and announced a project. Each student would create a poster about a water-borne bacterium that can be harmful to humans, the bacteriums effects, and disease prevention and treatment. The handouts included an assignment sheet with due dates and grading policy, a rubric, a guide for designing the poster, and a list of websites and books. The teacher would display the best posters. U U U

ANNE DOWIE PHOTOGRAPHY

Students at Mare Island Technical Academy in Vallejo present their project work to an audience.

Sound familiar? When you were in school, did you make posters, dioramas, and models of buildings or volcanoes? If you are a teacher, have you asked students to research a topic and present information with PowerPoint slides? These are all-too-common examples of the kind of meaning-lite assignments that teachers bill as projects. A classroom lled with student posters may suggest that students have been engaged in meaningful learning. But it is the process of students learning and the depth of their cognitive engagement rather than the resulting product that distinguishes projects from busywork. What Every Good Project Needs A project is meaningful if it fullls two criteria. First, students must perceive it as personally meaningful, as a task that matters and that they want to do well. Second, a meaningful project fullls an educational purpose. Well-designed and well-implemented Project Based Learning (PBL) is meaningful in both ways. As educators with the Buck Institute for Education, we provide professional development to help schools set up a sustained program of in-depth Project Based Learning throughout a district, network, or state. In our work with teachers, we have identied eight essential elements of meaningful projects. Lets look at each element by considering what the ctional Mrs. McIntyre could have done to create a meaningful project instead of handing out prepared packets. 1. Signicant content Back when she began planning the project, Ms. McIntyre started with her content standards. She knew the standards about microorganisms and disease were reected in high number of items on her states test, and her own judgment told her this was an important topic for young people to understand. She also thought her students would nd the topic signicant, since bacteria and disease had concrete effects on their lives. U U U

Project Based Learning is sometimes mistakenly believed, based on old stereotypes, to be an ineffective vehicle for teaching content. But while is it is true that a teacher cannot cover (which isnt, after all, the same as teach) as much material in a project as he or she could through lectures, worksheets, and textbooks, students in a well-designed project understand the content more deeply. Teachers should plan a project to focus on important knowledge and concepts derived from standards. The content should also reect what the teacher thinks is essential to understand about the topic. And students should nd the content to be signicant in terms of their own lives and interests. 2. A Need to Know Imagine that on the rst day of the infectious disease unit, Ms. McIntyre showed a video depicting scenes of a beautiful beach, which ended with a shot of a sign saying, Beach Closed: Contaminated Water. Suppose watching this video led to a lively (and sometimes disgusting) discussion in which students shared their experiences with suspicious water quality, discussing times when beaches had been closed and why. The teacher could then introduce the project by telling students that they would be learning more about ocean pollution and taking action to combat it. U U U Teachers can powerfully activate students need to know content by launching a project with an entry event that engages student interest and initiates questioning. An entry event can be almost anything: a video, a lively discussion, a guest speaker, a eld trip, or a piece of mock correspondence that sets up a scenario. In contrast, announcing a project with a packet of papers is likely to turn students off; it looks like a prelude to busywork. Many students nd school work meaningless because they dont perceive a need to know what they are being taught. They are unmotivated by a

teachers suggestion that they should learn something because theyll need it later in life, or for the next course, or simply because its going to be on the test. With a compelling student project, the reason for learning relevant material becomes clear: I need to know this to meet the challenge Ive accepted. 3. A Driving Question After the discussion about beach pollution, Ms. McIntyre led students in brainstorming possible solutions, such as enacting laws, designing better wastetreatment systems, and raising public awareness about the need to reduce contaminants. Students created a Driving Question to focus their efforts, focusing on a specic, local area: How can we reduce the number of days Fosters beach is closed because of poor water quality?

A good driving question captures the heart of the project in clear, compelling language.
A good Driving Question captures the heart of the project in clear, compelling language, which gives students a sense of purpose and challenge. The Question should be provocative, open-ended, complex, and linked to the core of what you want students to learn. It could be abstract (When is war justied?); concrete (Is our water safe to drink?); or focused on solving a problem (How can we improve this website so that more young people will use it?). A project without a Driving Question is like an essay without a thesis. Without a thesis statement, a reader might be able to pick out the main point a writer is trying to make; but with a thesis statement, the main point is unmistakable. Without a Driving Question, students may not understand why they are undertaking

a project. They know that the series of assigned activities has some connection with a time period, a place, or concept. But if you asked, What is the point of all these activities? they might only be able to offer, Because were making a poster. 4. Student Voice and Choice Once her students interest was piqued by a challenging question, Ms. McIntyre explained the requirements for the Dont Close the Beach project, which included an individually written paper, a product of the students choice created by teams, and an oral presentation of their work accompanied by media technology. Students chose to develop media kits for journalists, video public service announcements, web pages, brochures, and letters to government and industry ofcials, among other products. U U U This element of Project Based Learning is key. In terms of making a project feel meaningful to students, the more voice and choice, the better. However, teachers should design projects with the extent of student choice that ts their own style and students. On the limited-choice end of the scale, learners can select what topic to study within a general Driving Question or choose how to design, create, and present products. As a middle ground, teachers might provide a limited menu of options for creative products to prevent students from becoming overwhelmed by choices. On the the more the better end of the scale, students can decide what product they will create, what resources they will use, and how they will structure their time. Students could even choose a projects topic and Driving Question. 5. 21st Century Skills Once Ms. McIntyres students had decided on actions that would help them respond to the Driving Question, they got to work. Collaboration was central to the project. Students formed teams of three or four and began planning what tasks they would do and how they would work together.

As they worked, each team regularly paused to review how well they were collaborating and communicating, using rubrics the class had developed with the teacher. To boost collaboration skills, Mrs. McIntyre used role-playing and teambuilding activities. She showed students how to use time and task organizers. They practiced oral presentation skills and learned to produce videos and podcasts.

websites, experts, and visits to Fosters Beach. As these learners found answers, they raised and investigated new questions. Students synthesized the information they gathered and used it both to inform their individually-written papers on the Driving Question and to help create their teams product related to that question. U U U Students nd project work to be more meaningful if they are asked to conduct real inquiry which does not mean nding information in books or websites and pasting it onto a poster. In real inquiry, students follow a trail that begins with their own questions, leads to a search for resources and the discovery of answers, and which ultimately leads to generating new questions, testing ideas, and drawing their own conclusions. With real inquiry comes innovation a new answer to a Driving Question, a new product, a new solution to a problem. The teacher does not ask students to simply reproduce teacher- or textbook-provided information in a pretty format. To guide students in real inquiry, refer students to the list of questions they generated after the entry event. Coach them to add to this list as they discover new insights. The classroom culture should value questioning, hypothesizing, and openness to new ideas and perspectives. 7. Feedback and Revision As they developed their ideas and products, student teams reviewed and critiqued one anothers work, referring to rubrics and exemplars. Ms. McIntyre checked research notes, reviewed rough drafts and plans, and met with teams to monitor their progress. U U U Formalizing a process for feedback and revision during a project makes learning meaningful because it emphasizes that creating high-quality products and performances is an important purpose of

Students nd project work more meaningful if they conduct real inquiry.

In writing journals, students reected on their thinking and problem-solving processes, which they knew they would need to explain in their oral presentation. U U U A project should give students opportunities to build such 21st century skills as collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and the use of technology, which will serve them well in the workplace and life. This exposure to authentic skills meets the second criterion for meaningful work an important purpose. A teacher in a Project Based Learning environment explicitly teaches and assesses these skills and provides frequent opportunities for students to assess themselves. 6. Inquiry and Innovation After the discussion about encounters with pollution, in addition to choosing a Driving Question, Ms. McIntyres students as a whole class generated a list of more detailed questions about diseases, bacteria and their effects, and sources of water contamination. Questions included, What diseases can you get from water? Do you have to drink it to get sick? and Where do bacteria come from? The teams ne-tuned their questions and discussed how to nd answers from their teacher, books, articles,

the endeavor. Students need to learn that most peoples rst attempts dont result in high quality and that revision is a frequent feature of real-world work. In addition to providing direct feedback, a teacher should coach students in using rubrics or other sets of criteria to critique one anothers work. Teachers can arrange for experts or adult mentors to provide feedback, which is especially meaningful to students because of the source. 8. Publicly Presented Product In Ms. McIntyres class, teams presented their analyses of water contamination issues and their proposals for addressing the problem at an exhibition night. The invited audience included parents, peers, and representatives of community, business, and government organizations. Students answered questions and reected on how they completed the project, next steps they might take, and what they gained in terms of knowledge and skillsand pride. U U U Schoolwork is more meaningful when its not done only for the teacher or the test. When students present their work to a real audience, they care more about its quality. Once again, its the more, the better when it comes to the authenticity. Students might replicate the kinds of tasks done by professionalsbut even better, they might create real products that people outside school use.
ANNE DOWIE PHOTOGRAPHY

Students at Tamalpais High School in California study U.S. History in a project.

The Rest of the Story The hypothetical project described here was inspired by a real project, Media Saves the Beach, carried out by students at High Tech High in San Diego, California. In this real-life project, students worked alongside established local groups to advocate cleaner shorelines. Several government agencies came through with funding for water monitoring at local beaches. In truth, one of the products students created was a poster. What made that poster different from the meaning-lite one Ms. McIntyre had assigned? The High Tech High students chose to do their poster because it was an effective way to communicate their message at

Exhibition Nightand the team stood nearby to explain it. To create the poster, students engaged in an extended process of inquiry, critique, and revision. They learned important things in the process. In short, even a poster can be meaning-heavy if its part of a project embodying the eight essential elements of Project Based Learning. Authors Note: Individuals and some place names in this article are pseudonyms.
John Larmer (415-883-0122; john larmer@bie.org) is director of product development and John R. Mergendoller (john@bie.org) is executive director at the Buck Institute for Education, 18 Commercial Blvd., Novato, CA 94949.

Buck Institute for Education 18 Commercial Blvd. Novato, CA, USA 94949 ph: 415-883-0122 www.bie.org youtube.com/biepbl twitter.com/biepbl

Originally published as 7 Essentials for Project-Based Learning, by John Larmer and John R. Mergendoller, in Educational Leadership, 68(1). 2010 ASCD. Reproduced and updated March 2012 with permission of ASCD. For more information about Educational Leadership, go to www.ascd.org.